


Concussion Signs, Diagnosis, and Treatment

by DJClawson



Series: Theodore Nelson's Adventures in Sharing a Workspace [11]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Bisexual Matt Murdock, Bisexuality, Buddhist!Danny, Danny Rand doesn't know what even, F/F, F/M, Homosexuality, Hurt Matt Murdock, M/M, Shou-Lao the Undying gets no respect, why am I writing so much Iron Fist fic I hated that show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 19:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17689364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJClawson/pseuds/DJClawson
Summary: Ofcoursedate night goes awry.





	Concussion Signs, Diagnosis, and Treatment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Readera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Readera/gifts).



> Thank you to Pogopop for her beta work!
> 
> I think this is the first fic where I've ever given Colleen dialogue. I've just had no reason to until this point. I know I'm supposed to root for her but I cannot emphasize enough how much I did not care for Iron Fist. I want those thirteen hours of my life back.
> 
> Comments, suggestions, corrections, and requests are always appreciated!

Matt was late. This of itself wasn’t so special; Matt was super unreliable in general and Theo had accepted that as part of him. Not that he didn’t encourage Matt to improve on this, but Theo felt Matt probably got enough shit about that from Foggy at work, and he didn’t need it from his boyfriend. And yes, they were definitely using that term, at least to other people, though they had never discussed it amongst themselves. Theo had definitely had relationships that fell into stranger categories, or did less to earn their category descriptions, so this was a case of letting sleeping dogs lie.

But Matt had never abandoned him wholesale without an excuse, at least over text, after specifically promising to be there, and even to do a specific thing like get dinner. And Theo was starving. So there was a limit to how late he was willing to let Matt be, surviving on shakes, before he started texting.

Matt didn’t text back. Matt almost never texted, preferring to call since it was just easier for him than toggling a bunch of audio menus and hoping for the best in voice-recognition software, but he didn’t call.

Theo flipped through the news. Foggy had specifically told him not to set up a news alert for Daredevil on his phone because it would drive him crazy (and there would be a lot of false alerts), so Theo didn’t, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do a news search. No Daredevil sightings, though that didn’t mean there were none, just that there were none reported - but if Matt felt he needed to knock some heads, he knocked some heads. And it was Saturday night, and the dead of winter, so maybe he wanted to get ahead of it, so criminals would be scared inside and he could enjoy the rest of the night.

After the third disgusting protein shake - not Theo’s best attempt - he decided he was frustrated enough to call the line he had never called before, and been told never to call because it might interrupt something important, and was labeled only as ‘BURNER.’ He only had it because Matt had used to it to call him to say he was going to be late, back when he was attempting to be a good boyfriend, and Theo had saved it into his phone. If Matt was ever caught as Daredevil, and someone went down his emergency phone trying to find people who knew him - well, Theo knew a good lawyer.

Matt didn’t pick up for a few rings, so much so that Theo was about to give up when Matt finally did. “Hello?”

“It’s me,” Theo said, and regretted sounding so indignant. A disposable phone probably didn’t have a ringtone that identified the caller. “Um, I’m just calling to see how you are.”

“What?”

“How you are,” Theo said.

“Oh.” Matt sounded ... off. “I’m fine.”

“Do you know what day it is?”

There was a long pause on the other end. “It’s night.”

So Matt had either completely forgotten, or gotten too busy to remember, or - “Where are you?”

“I’m home.”

Matt was rarely monosymbollic unless he was hiding something or he was tired. One of the two was usually true, but it was enough to make Theo sit up. “Do you know where you’re supposed to be right now?”

“... Home?”

“Are you hurt?”

There was some noise on the other end. “I have an ice pack.” It sounded more like frozen vegetables, but fine.

“That’s not really an answer.”

“I’m fine,” Matt replied. He was definitely lying. And doing it badly, even for Matt.

Theo threw his legs over the side of his bed. “I’m coming over there.”

“Don’t.”

“You’d better be injured,” Theo added, “or when I get there, I’m dumping you.”

“Okay,” was the surprisingly neutral answer from Matt, either because he didn’t believe him or he didn’t understand him.

They didn’t stay on the line to find out. He couldn’t get there fast enough, even avoiding all of the ice and dirty snow piled on the sides of the street. He didn’t have a key, but the front door to Matt’s apartment was notoriously easy to force open if you turned the handle in just the right way, which was a problem in general but not one he could worry about at the moment. Six flights up, he was banging on Matt’s apartment door while trying to catch his breath.

“Oh, thank G-d,” Theo said as Matt opened the door. Matt was standing, at least. He was wearing black, either the official Daredevil outfit without the mask or just other clothing he had that was black. There was a bag of peas on his head. Theo didn’t know why he had frozen peas; frozen peas were terrible. “You’re okay. Sort of.” But he had to push his way in as Matt just sort of stood there in the dark, backlit only by the street lights. Theo shut the door behind him and hit the light. “What happened to your head?”

“I hit it.”

This wasn’t sarcastic Matt, the guy who was too fucking smart for his own good. Matt sounded like he was stating a fact.

“Do you want to be more specific?”

Matt shrugged.

Was everything going to be pulling teeth tonight? “Do you not remember? Because that’s real bad.”

“It’s fine.”

“Tell me how you hit your head. Or how someone hit it.”

“It’s fine.”

“Fuck,” Theo said, and walked into the kitchen. As usual, it was freezing. Less usually, the surface was covered with bloody towels. “You were bleeding. Are you still bleeding?”

Matt shrugged.

“Okay,” Theo nodded. “Let’s go to the hospital.”

“No.”

“You chose the falafel place. Now it’s my turn, and I’ve decided that we’re going to the hospital. You can buy me flowers at the gift shop.”

“I can’t.” This time, Matt sounded a little firmer. “Because ...” He gestured to his injury. And how he was dressed.

“Yeah, I see your point, but we also can’t _not_ go to the hospital. You have to see a doctor, Matt. You have to see one tonight.”

“I have a nurse.”

“I thought she left you?” _For Luke Cage_ , he didn’t add, because that wasn’t really the point here. “Do you still have her number?”

“She left the hospital. She’s, um - she’s on my old phone.” He put down the burner. “I broke it - she’s on my regular phone.” It took him some puttering around to find it on his bedstand. He enabled the phone with a series of taps. “Call Claire.”

Once it was ringing, Theo took it from him with surprising ease and held it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Who is this?”

She sounded a little annoyed, or maybe just hesitant because it wasn’t Matt on Matt’s phone. “Theo. Um, Theo Nelson. I’m with Matt and he hit his head and he won’t go to the hospital.”

There was a long sigh on the other end. “Of course he won’t. How did he hit his head?”

“I don’t think he knows. He’s just staring at me - well, not staring, but you know - and I think that’s a bad sign. And there’s a lot of blood in his sink.”

“Put me on speaker,” she said, and he did. “Matt? Are you listening?”

“Yes,” Matt said, without a lot of conviction.

“Are you dizzy?” she said. “Don’t lie to me. I’m just going to come over and ask the same questions until you tell the truth. And if you say you’re fine, I’m sending an ambulance to your place.”

Matt closed his eyes for a moment and said, “A little dizzy. I can stand.”

Claire asked Theo to describe Matt in detail, and battered Matt with neurological questions, which mostly annoyed him, but he answered. No, he could not tell if he was concussed. No, he did not remember how it happened. No, he would not go to get a CAT scan.

“I’m coming over,” she announced. There was some noise on her end; people were talking. “Danny’s offered to heal you with his magic fist. That’s the least obscene way I can put it, but it works.”

“Hmmph,” was all Matt said to that.

“I think you should try it,” Theo said to Matt. “Claire - it’s safe, right?”

“It’s safer than letting Matt sleep with an undiagnosed concussion,” was her clinical answer to that. “We’re coming over.”

“I need snacks,” Danny chimed in from the background. “I’ll bring snacks!”

“Um, okay,” Theo said, wondering how many people were getting involved in this, but relieved about the help. “What should I do?”

“If he’s not in dry clothes, make him change, and keep him warm. Make him drink - he might be dehydrated. And he should sit down with his feet elevated, but he shouldn’t sleep. And no ninja crap.”

“Obviously,” Theo said.

“Obviously. You’ve got this,” Claire said. “We’ll be there in thirty.”

Matt hadn’t had much reaction to any of this. It bothered Theo immensely. “Okay, buddy. You’re getting out of those clothes.” He hadn’t even considered that Matt might be wet, or cold, or sweaty. He was not good at this.

“I’m sorry,” Matt said, and he sounded genuinely sorry. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Neither am I, but I guess it’s good that that part of your brain is functioning,” Theo said.

Getting Matt out of his clothes was easy - Theo had some experience in this, and Matt had lots of clean sweats, probably for nights like this. He had trouble bending over to get his socks on, so Theo said, “Let me do that,” and Matt had the most G-ddamn adorable socks that didn’t also have hearts or kitties on them. He deposited him on the couch, making sure he was adequately sitting up. “I’ll make some tea.” Matt was a tea snob, which meant he had plenty around, and nothing that he wouldn’t drink himself. “How about you have some regular water first? I’m sure you worked up a sweat. You shouldn’t even be out there in this weather.”

“You don’t have to make a fuss over me,” Matt said, in his longest sentence since he had picked up the phone.

“I kinda feel like I do,” Theo said, handing him water and waiting for him to drink it. “I would just prefer it not to be _this_ kind of fuss - the head injury kind.”

“Mmm.”

This time, Theo was pretty sure Matt was being non-verbal so he didn’t have to hold up his side of the argument. Theo didn’t press him. The doorbell rang; Theo had to buzz in an unknown number of people, then listen to them loudly tramp up the stairs. Well, Danny Rand was loud.

“We brought food!” he announced. He was carrying a crate of stuff, and the Asian woman behind him had garbage bags of takeout. “Oh, hi! Theo!” He turned to the Asian woman. “He’s been getting me all the yak.”

“Did you tell him I think it’s terrible?”

“He’s not cooking it,” Danny said, and turned to Theo. “Do you think you could try cooking it?”

“Maybe.” He _did_ like cooking meat, even if it was always for other people. “Can we deal with this another time?” He gestured to Matt, barely conscious on the couch.

“Yes! Yes, of course,” Danny said. “Colleen, Claire - this is Theo. Matt’s - butcher?”

“Boyfriend,” Theo corrected. “Um, hi.” He gave a shy wave to the two of them, followed by a black woman with a very exasperated look on her face. This was apparently Claire. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for calling,” Claire said. “And putting up with him.”

Theo didn’t ask if she meant Danny or Matt.

Claire proceeded to sit across from Matt and check him over, peppering him with questions he gave polite non-answers to. Danny and Colleen put the food on the table and Danny opened a liter of one of the lemonade/ice tea mixes that was pure sugar and started chugging it.

“The Iron Fist burns a ton of calories,” Colleen explained. “I assume you don’t want him passing out cold after this.”

“It’s Matt’s place, but yeah, that doesn’t sound good.”

“I would do it but I can only channel it through the sword,” Colleen said. “You look confused.”

“I think this is just my face now.”

“Did Matt not explain anything to do you?”

“He tried.”

“It’s easier to just see it,” Colleen said, “but I understand your frustration.”

He suspected she really did.

Claire joined them. “I think he has a concussion, but I can’t be sure. He’s not reporting any other injuries, and he can’t tell if he has a concussion.”

“He doesn’t like the fist,” Danny said between mouthfuls of Fritos.

“Yeah, but he agreed to it rather than go for X-Rays, if you think you can handle a probable concussion. Probably to the back of the head, or somewhere else under his hair that isn’t immediately apparent.”

Danny nodded. “Let’s do this.”

The thing about the Iron Fist was, it was really fucking impressive. Maybe not Phish concert light show impressive, but it was light inside Danny’s hand, and that was something you didn’t see every day. All he had to do was press it to the side of Matt’s head and hopefully not melt his brain in the process, because that thing looked like it had heat to it, and the light spread just enough for Danny to hold it there, kneeling beside Matt on the couch, until he couldn’t seem to hold his fist together any longer, and slumped over.

Matt, who had been lying there silently, opened his eyes. “That was it?”

“How do you feel?” Claire said, before Theo had a chance. Also, Theo was a little terrified to ask.

Matt propped himself up. “Um, better.” He was helped into a sitting position by Claire. “A lot better. Shit, I had a date tonight.”

“Fucking finally!” Theo shouted.

Claire burst into laughter, though she covered it quickly. “Sorry, sorry. I shouldn’t be laughing.”

“I know you broke up with Matt over this.”

“We didn’t break up. We weren’t dating,” she defended, still holding back quite a bit of giggling.

“We - we could have been dating,” Matt defended himself. “Theo, I’m sorry. And you’re a trooper and I appreciate it.”

“You’re lucky I have to see you at work every day, because that’s driving a lot of this,” Theo said. He was lying, and he hoped at the moment that Matt could tell. But it was at least a little bit true.

“I don’t want to reschedule,” Matt said, “but I also want to sleep right here on this couch. Maybe forever.”

“He’s going to want to do that,” Danny said. Colleen had managed to get him to a kitchen chair and he was shoveling Chinese takeout into his mouth. “He needs to sleep to revive his chi.”

So they made Matt down a pint of soup and led him to the bedroom, where he insisted he could handle himself, thank you very much. Claire didn’t ask why Matt’s bed mattress and box-spring were on the floor and the destroyed frame was stacked in pieces in a corner, for which Theo was grateful. Matt was alert and responsive, just very tired, and he apologetically shut the door on them, and they heard no more from him.

Claire sighed. “We might as well eat. Danny overbought again.”

“Food is fuel,” Danny said, finishing off another carton of shrimp.

Theo found a box of veggie stir fry, which was pretty good, and less greasy than he expected. If everyone else felt compelled to make themselves at home in Matt’s apartment while he slept, Theo figured there must have been a reason. And besides, he was hungry.

“So,” Colleen said, “how did you and Matt meet?”

“Um, I’m Foggy’s brother, so I’ve known him forever,” he said. “We just didn’t really ... connect until they opened their law office in the back room of my shop.” It felt strange and rewarding to say ‘my shop’ even though his parents still had majority ownership, something that would be changing soon. It also felt strange to not have to lie or obfuscate the details of how he met someone.

“And you knew he was Daredevil?”

“No - he just told me a bunch of times, and I didn’t believe him.”

“Oh good,” Danny said, looking pointedly at Colleen and then Claire. “So you guys have something in common.”

Theo nearly snorted out his food. “So, um, how did you guys meet?” he said after a moment to recover. “Does everyone just meet fighting the same mugger?”

“Oh, I don’t fight crime,” Claire said. “Colleen is my self-defense instructor.”

“And Danny challenged me for control of my dojo, because that’s something you just do in other dimensions and it’s cool and not obnoxious at all,” Colleen added. “You want to take some classes? I have a special for people seeing vigilantes. It’s called ‘free.’”

“Fighting’s not really my thing,” Theo said. “But thanks for the offer.”

“It doesn’t have to be your thing,” Colleen says. “It’s self-defense. And it builds confidence.”

“Can I just be like, a normal guy?”

“You can ease up on the sales pitch,” Claire said to Colleen. “Most New Yorkers manage to go their whole lives without getting attacked by muggers. Or ninjas. Or dragons.”

“Shou-Lao the Undying doesn’t attack anyone!” Danny insisted. “He just sleeps in his cave until _you_ attack _him_ so you can punch him in the heart. And if he likes you, he’s pretty cool about it.” He looked straight at Theo, ignoring glances passing between Claire and Colleen. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

Theo shrugged. “My boyfriend is a blind ninja, so - sure, there’s dragons. Are they from Thor’s planet? Thor’s from another planet, right? Do you know him?”

“No. But I could probably get Tony Stark’s number. My media team could get it.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have a _Tony Stark_ wall calendar hanging in my apartment.” He added, “I think Matt doesn’t know about it. Don’t tell him.”

Claire lost it at that. Theo couldn’t blame her.

  


Despite Claire’s repeated warnings that no, Matt was not going to fall into a coma and so he did not need to be repeatedly woken to make sure that he wouldn’t, Theo still worried about Matt late into the morning, eventually nudging Matt just enough that Matt mumbled something and turned over. And he needed to get a new bed frame, stat, but otherwise Theo was fed and he didn’t have to worry about getting up to be somewhere, or his boyfriend flying out of bed to be somewhere, because it didn’t look like Matt was going to be doing _that_ anytime soon.

Claire texted him because she was nice and genuinely concerned for Matt and Theo could see why he had liked her enough to ask her out, or whatever he had actually done that had failed. Theo usually tried not to use his phone or his iPad in bed, knowing Matt could hear everything even with headphones in, but he felt that after ten hours, going on eleven, he could be excused from the normal restrictions. Of course, he could always move into the living room, but what was the point of having access to a bed with a half-naked guy if you weren’t going to use it?

At some point Matt rolled over again, hit the clock that told him the time, and mumbled something about missing church, but kept his head solidly embedded in the overstuffed pillow.

Finally he mumbled, “Was there a party in here?”

“Good morning to you, too,” Theo said. “If you consider people eating Chinese food in your massive kitchen a party, then yes. And no, we didn’t drink your beer.”

“Don’t get a lot of visitors,” Matt said. Since Theo was sitting up with his back against the wall, and Matt was still very horizontal, he took Theo’s available arm and kissed it. “Sorry about last night. I owe you.”

“And I’m gonna take you up on it, but really I’d prefer if you just not get so hurt that you don’t know how hurt you are.”

“Danny fisted me back to health,” Matt said, and Theo laughed. “Is it as impressive as people say it is?”

“It’s pretty. Like his hand is one of those Tibetan salt lamps. Do you really call it that?”

“Jessica started it,” Matt admitted. “It just caught on. Who else was here? Claire and somebody else.”

“Their friend Colleen. I think she’s Danny’s girlfriend?”

“And Claire’s,” Matt said. “It’s complicated. And not something I officially know, so ... you know.”

“She offered to teach me how to fight. She said it was self-defense but that’s basically how to fight, right?”

“Do you want to go?”

“No, I don’t want to go!” Theo said. “I can’t stand hurting people. Besides, it sounds like it might turn into kind of a weird scene. Or am I projecting?”

Matt shook his head.

“Have you gone?”

“I’d rather have them not know my moves,” Matt said. “Jessica doesn’t go either. And Claire and Luke aren’t talking. So it’s not like everyone goes to their little club. There’s Misty, I think. I don’t know her that well.”

“Who’s Misty?”

“She’s the cop with the robot arm.”

“Oh. Because that clears it up.”

Matt laughed. “It does narrow it down to one cop in all of New York. That I know about anyway.”

“You do not know normal people.”

“Are you complaining?” Matt put his arm over Theo’s leg. “You weren’t interested in me when you thought I was normal.”

“I wasn’t interested in you when I thought you were a straight douchebag. And to be honest, I still think you’re _kind of_ a douchebag.”

“Mmm, might not be able to do much about that,” Matt said. “But I _can_ prove I’m not straight.”

Theo wondered if they made thank you cards to chi-granting dragons. 

The End


End file.
